No wall too high for Trump’s border push

· January 10, 2019 ·

By Kimberly Atkins | [email protected] | Boston Herald January 10, 2019 at 10:44 pm WASHINGTON — President Trump proved just how far he’ll go to protect what has become the symbol of his presidency and the political base conservative talking heads have convinced him he must protect at all costs: a southern border wall. Causing 800,000 federal workers, many tasked with securing the very southern border Trump claims is in crisis, to miss paychecks is not a bridge too far. Nor is halting the work of food inspectors, drug and medical device reviewers, federal election commissioners, national park employees, federal financial industry watchdogs and more. Neither is mulling a national security declaration to allocate Defense Department funds for the wall, which would violate the spirit and possibly the letter of constitutional executive authority limits, and almost ensure a protracted legal battle. “This is a thing that the lawyers tell me is 100 percent,” Trump said Thursday, en route to a southern border site in Texas, of his ability to act unilaterally. Unless Democrats agree to include more than $5 billion in border wall funding in a bill to reopen the government, Trump said, “I will declare a national emergency.” Trump… Read full this story